Apple's forthcoming cloud-based service could replace iTunes' syncing functionality, according to an unverified report.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball suggested in a post on Sunday, "Dont think of iCloud as the new MobileMe; think of iCloud as the new iTunes," though he qualified the report by noting it as "fourth-hand information, at best." Gruber is generally well-connected when it comes to Apple predictions and has a reliable track record.

Gruber acknowledged that he knows just a "handful of minor features" regarding Monday's announcements for iOS 5 and iCloud. "These things have been as well-kept secrets as any major projects from Apple in recent years," he wrote.

However, Gruber speculates that iCloud would replace iTunes as the "central store for almost all data" stored on iPhones, iPods and iPads, moving the information to the cloud. Thus, iCloud could do away with USB tethering and syncing, allowing users to setup new iOS devices just by logging into an iTunes account.

Such a service would, however, affect MobileMe as well, as iTunes and MobileMe overlap on the kind of data they store. For example, iTunes currently syncs "audio, movies and TV shows, iBooks e-books, App Store apps, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, notes, and any sort of files shared between iOS apps," while MobileMe's "major selling points" include cloud-based syncing of bookmarks, contacts, calendars and files. As such, if the iCloud service were to mirror iTunes backups for iOS devices, MobileMe could appear to be obsolete, especially with its $99 price tag.

Gruber also pointed out that if Apple can reach a deal with the movie studios for iCloud, the second-generation Apple TV could more easily stream purchased movies instead of just renting them.

AppleInsider has heard that iCloud is more than just music, allowing users to sync and store information currently managed by iTunes and MobileMe. Sources have also told AppleInsider that Apple may offer portions of the iCloud service free to Mac owners who upgrade to Mac OS X Lion, which comes out this summer.

The much-rumored streaming music feature of iCloud is expected to cost money. Multiple music industry insiders have indicated that Apple has successfully negotiated new licenses with the major record labels that would allow users to stream music. One report suggested last week that iCloud will initially be offered free to iTunes music customers, with an eventual $25 subscription fee.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball suggested in a post on Sunday, "Don’t think of iCloud as the new MobileMe; think of iCloud as the new iTunes,"

So iCloud will be slow buggy and crashtasitc on Windows - Just like iTunes?

I would be willing to bet with the numbers they are selling, iOS users on windows must outnumber iOS device users on Macs at this stage. If Gruber is right about the magnitude of this, I hope that they have redone the windows client under the hood.

The iTunes desktop software (Mac or PC) is the worst part of being an iOS user in my opinion.

You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.

So iCloud will be slow buggy and crashtasitc on Windows - Just like iTunes?

I would be willing to bet with the numbers they are selling, iOS users on windows must outnumber iOS device users on Macs at this stage.

Windows users of iTunes always outnumbered those on the Mac, when it was first offered. The growth of the Mac user base actually lends one to hypothesize that the number of Windows users is being reduced and moving to the Mac, not the other way around.

So iCloud will be slow buggy and crashtasitc on Windows - Just like iTunes?

I would be willing to bet with the numbers they are selling, iOS users on windows must outnumber iOS device users on Macs at this stage. If Gruber is right about the magnitude of this, I hope that they have redone the windows client under the hood.

The iTunes desktop software (Mac or PC) is the worst part of being an iOS user in my opinion.

I have almost 200G of music and movies and never had iTunes crash in windows. It is also snappy considering the amount of data. I run iTunes on a 2005 laptop. The memory footprint of iTunes on my Windows laptop is always in line with some of the MS programs like Outlook or Internet Explorer. Sounds like you have some conflict going on your machine.

Won't syncing demands -- especially the first-time sync whenever a new iOS product is introduced by Apple that typically involves tens of GB of downloads for the average user -- simply overwhelm the capacity of bandwidth pipes?

I have seen no major deals announced with the key bandwidth providers, i.e., the cable companies, in the lead up to this.

Put me in the 'skeptical' column.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

So iCloud will be slow buggy and crashtasitc on Windows - Just like iTunes?

I would be willing to bet with the numbers they are selling, iOS users on windows must outnumber iOS device users on Macs at this stage. If Gruber is right about the magnitude of this, I hope that they have redone the windows client under the hood.

The iTunes desktop software (Mac or PC) is the worst part of being an iOS user in my opinion.

And your opinion is so far off from reality it enters the realm of fantasy.

And your opinion is so far off from reality it enters the realm of fantasy.

i rather agree that itunes is not as good as it could be. It's not horrid at least on a Mac but there are other ways to handle many of the functions which could be better. Like say when you plug in a device, you don't have to fire up Itunes to get to the sync screens. You just double click an icon on your desktop.

Wireless syncing plus a future iPhone with built-in Qi for induction charging would make my day.

Induction charging is a really lousy idea. Sure, it saves you the tenth of a second that it takes to plug the phone in, but it wastes energy. Even a few watts of wasted energy adds up when multiplied by a hundred million phones.

I hope we stop wasting energy on stupid things sooner rather than later. (And it doesn't matter whether you believe in global warming or not. There are plenty of other reasons - like the $250 BILLION per year we're sending overseas to pay for petroleum - much of which ends up in terrorist states. Or the two wars we've fought in the Middle East in the past 2 decades - an area which is of strategic importance to us solely because of oil. Or the pollution that comes from burning oil.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

That's what the testified to Congress. No policy of telling customers when their data is stolen.

Not that their servers were the ones that people used to get their information. People instead had apps 'phone home' data and there was nothing Apple could've done, short of revoking their app and license if repeated. But nice cherry picking the information.

I found Lion intriguing last fall because of the inclusion of Lion Server with the desktop OS. It seemed aimed finding away to share info across various types of devices (some with limited storage capacity) like iphones and ipads.

That was reinforced by the announcement of iCloud. When I heard of the cloud music deals, I thought of it as rather ho-hum. I've got my music on my 160GB ipod, and a little on my iPhone.

Then it dawned on my iTunes in the cloud is for Apple as it goes more and more post-PC.

If this is the "New iTunes" think about geting a new iPod, iPhone, or iPad and geting this stuff from the iCloud again. It's ridiculous! If you want to do all of these things over 3G or 4G depending on the situation you will be charged, there is a lot of data here. You have music, movies, and tv shows. If you're on broadband think about how slow it will be, even with broadband. Apple wouldn't be this stupid to take EVERYTHING to the cloud.

I have almost 200G of music and movies and never had iTunes crash in windows. It is also snappy considering the amount of data. I run iTunes on a 2005 laptop. The memory footprint of iTunes on my Windows laptop is always in line with some of the MS programs like Outlook or Internet Explorer. Sounds like you have some conflict going on your machine.

Your posts are simply a cherry-picking of facts. It has become a habit, and my pointing this out again is probably not going to change your behavior on iota. Facts don't seem to matter to your type.

Quote:

Originally Posted by magicj

Yay!

Not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by magicj

Finally someone has figured out how to solve the hassle of having all my data, songs, apps, books, and movies available with me at all times and replaced it with the convienence of downloading it all over and over again over slow public wi-fi

You don't have to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by magicj

And for just $25.00 per year I will be able to listen to music I've already paid for whenever I want (after I download it over said slow public wi-fi)! That's lightyears ahead of what I'm forced to do now: listen to it instantly for free.

You don't have to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by magicj

And Apple's policy of not telling their customers when someone steals their data from their servers is just the cherry on top!

Care to point to one example where Apple has had customer data stolen from its servers?

As I said, for folks of your persuasion, it would seem that a fair and balanced view of the facts are simply irrelevant.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

Gruber's a flaming clown, but he's often quite right on Apple/Mac issues. I think he's correct here: Apple's 'cloud' is designed mainly to replace the role your computer & iTunes play in regard to your iOS device.

It's something Microsoft would never do - essentially, they're giving you one less reason to own (or go anywhere near) a computer. Since Apple makes computers, this seems to make no sense (and it would never make sense to Ballmer), but it actually makes perfect sense. It explains completely why Apple spent so heavily on a data center. Essentially, they're giving people who hate computers (especially around the home) a way to get rid of them completely. That means Apple might sell fewer computers, but only to people who didn't much care for them much anyway. In exchange, they will sell a TON more iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches. A ton.

This theory also rather neatly explains why, after having built their data center, they moved to add capacity before they even announced what it was for. It was because the iPad sold so much better than anyone expected that Apple realized the brand-new data center they'd just built would be insufficient to do the job.

The data center 'cloud' will probably do other things too. It's pretty well established that it will distribute music and probably movies, and probably email too. But the Big Idea is: What iTunes on your computer used to do, will now be handled more or less automatically, wirelessly, and remotely by Apple. The average iPad buyer will love it, and it will place Apple miles ahead of everyone trying to keep up.

So iCloud becomes the new Central Control of ALL my media regardless of how I manage my media on my various devices. iTunes becomes software to mange media (at least some of it), on my computer only. Media on my IOS devices is managed independently of iTunes.

iCloud also become a Apple's version of Amazon - purchase and rental of all media.

The result will be a much better way to manage, buy and rent media. Media on all my devices and computers can be controlled on a per machine basis. iTunes' role becomes much reduced and thus lighter and leaner.

I also favor the idea of an optional IOS/iCloud device to manage my back-ups, buffering media, as well as syncing and updating my devices on my local network.

You have to have listen to your tunes, your movies, your tv shows on the cloud? You have a limited data contract. Does this iCloud system work for you? I love Apple. But the rumors here is crap if Apple wan't to continue.

Are you people insane or just plain stupid? Apple will not remove the ability to play/stream/watch your files locally. They are simply making it easier to do all the above, anywhere you happen to be on whatever device you are on.

Are you people insane or just plain stupid? Apple will not remove the ability to play/stream/watch your files locally. They are simply making it easier to do all the above, anywhere you happen to be on whatever device you are on.

And your opinion is so far off from reality it enters the realm of fantasy.

I use iTunes on Mac and Windows and there's absolutely a night and day difference. On Windows, it's just a nightmare. As said, incessant crashes, random little bugs. It's literally the least stable piece of software I have running on a generally stable Windows 7 desktop that's never once had an OS crash or blue screen. I get less Flash crashes than I do iTunes crashes!

I tend to be as in love with Apple's product offerings as anyone, but I have to agree with those that say that the weak link in the chain on both major OS's is iTunes, though it's markedly a bigger issue on Windows.

Honestly, it's just about the only Apple product I have serious complaints about. I don't even mind all the iOS notifications that bother so many, but iTunes, mostly on Windows, is pure garbage. I would blame Windows more if 7 wasn't so steady (Vista was terrible and I never shared in the XP lovefest that still so many partake in) and if every other program I run, including numerous media management programs much like iTunes, didn't work infinitely better than iTunes.

But again, it literally crashes more than Flash...5 to 1, 6 to 1, maybe more, and that's just really unfortunate.

If this is the "New iTunes" think about geting a new iPod, iPhone, or iPad and geting this stuff from the iCloud again. It's ridiculous! If you want to do all of these things over 3G or 4G depending on the situation you will be charged, there is a lot of data here. You have music, movies, and tv shows. If you're on broadband think about how slow it will be, even with broadband. Apple wouldn't be this stupid to take EVERYTHING to the cloud.

Cheers,
Erik

You'd stream mostly, and they may not get the rights to sync to iCloud songs you didn't buy through the iTunes Store.

i rather agree that itunes is not as good as it could be. It's not horrid at least on a Mac but there are other ways to handle many of the functions which could be better. Like say when you plug in a device, you don't have to fire up Itunes to get to the sync screens. You just double click an icon on your desktop.

Hmmm, double-clicking a desktop icon to sync...that sounds good. And maybe this icon could be called iTunes?

I would love to have my iTunes library on a time capsule type of device with all of my Macs, ATVs & iPhones being able to access it. But it would have to have redundant storage. I know this can technically be done now. But it's very cumbersome. And iCloud helps to orchestrate access while I'm on the go? Could Apple please consider cramming an airport extreme into a Drobo like redundant solution with an iTunes server software pack? I would be in heaven.

It's something Microsoft would never do - essentially, they're giving you one less reason to own (or go anywhere near) a computer. Since Apple makes computers, this seems to make no sense (and it would never make sense to Ballmer), but it actually makes perfect sense. It explains completely why Apple spent so heavily on a data center. Essentially, they're giving people who hate computers (especially around the home) a way to get rid of them completely. That means Apple might sell fewer computers, but only to people who didn't much care for them much anyway. In exchange, they will sell a TON more iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches. A ton.

This theory also rather neatly explains why, after having built their data center, they moved to add capacity before they even announced what it was for. It was because the iPad sold so much better than anyone expected that Apple realized the brand-new data center they'd just built would be insufficient to do the job.

The data center 'cloud' will probably do other things too. It's pretty well established that it will distribute music and probably movies, and probably email too. But the Big Idea is: What iTunes on your computer used to do, will now be handled more or less automatically, wirelessly, and remotely by Apple. The average iPad buyer will love it, and it will place Apple miles ahead of everyone trying to keep up.

Best post I've read on these boards this year. Or probably any year. Where's the follow button?

Gruber says or has heard said: "Don’t think of iCloud as the new MobileMe; think of iCloud as the new iTunes". I think, if as you guess; they add e-mail to iCloud too he'll have to adjust that to: Don’t think of iCloud as the new MobileMe; think of iCloud as the new iTunes and MobileMe. We might be about to enter the post-PC era. Or what I prefer to call the era of casual computing.

Recommending an iPad to Granny (i.e. my Aunts) is about to get real, I hope.

I would love to have my iTunes library on a time capsule type of device with all of my Macs, ATVs & iPhones being able to access it. But it would have to have redundant storage. I know this can technically be done now. But it's very cumbersome. And iCloud helps to orchestrate access while I'm on the go? Could Apple please consider cramming an airport extreme into a Drobo like redundant solution with an iTunes server software pack? I would be in heaven.

I really hope they update Time Capsule in any capacity because I was just getting ready to buy one anyways. Hell, if it could just get me to the point where I don't need iTunes running to access my media on Apple TV 2, I'll be thrilled. I log in to my desktop remotely on my iPad to open iTunes if need be, so this is really just laziness to the extreme, but none the less, it'd be cool.

I do agree about the coolness of a sort of Time Capsule/Drobo hybrid. Hopefully tomorrow will bring exciting news on this end.